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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24379093">(After)life of the Party</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterjackson/pseuds/peterjackson'>peterjackson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everybody is alive and well, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Natasha Lives, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter gets poisoned, Poison, The Cake Is A Lie, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony lives, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:27:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24379093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterjackson/pseuds/peterjackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a late birthday gift for @emraldmooon (AO3)/ ironxprince (tumblr) </p><p> </p><p>Whatever bakery Tony went to was probably designer. But they had to have messed up with the cake somewhere, because as soon as Peter swallowed the cake, fire seared the back of his throat, like he’d swallowed acid. His vision blurred and he started coughing. A lot.</p><p>“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Tony asked, but his voice sounded like it was coming through a tunnel.</p><p>Peter’s legs shook and he stumbled, gripping the edge of the table to keep himself upright.</p><p>“Tony---” he gasped out, coughing again and watching as red specks of blood marred the inside of his elbow.</p><p>Something was wrong.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Harley Keener/Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) &amp; Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker &amp; Avengers, Peter Parker &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>812</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>(After)life of the Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironxprince/gifts">ironxprince</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>As mentioned, this a present for @emraldmoon/@ironxprince. It is also my first Irondad fanfiction. Feel free to leave a comment or hit kudos if you like it :)</p><p>Also, I know that the archive is still doing some maintenance so hopefully that doesn't interfere with me posting this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter hadn’t expected much --- or anything, really --- for his upcoming 18th birthday, especially not from Tony now that his mentor lived in a lakehouse and Peter still lived in the city with May and Happy (yeah, MJ had texted him what Happy had said about being in love with Peter’s aunt… Peter also began to seriously regret having enhanced hearing.)</p><p>But as his birthday approached, and the “discreet” phone calls between May and Tony became abnormally frequent, it was undeniable that Tony was planning something. Maybe if the world hadn’t temporarily ended, his mentor hadn’t almost died, and his life almost been ruined by a manipulating psychopath, Peter might have paid it more attention. Or at least found it in himself to pry into whatever scheme Tony was hatching.</p><p>But Peter, for the first time in a few months, was happy. He had his mentor back, his life was intact, he’d met Harley (and, a month later, began dating him ) and he could roll with the punches that came next. And even let Tony think that he was really being subtle about… whatever he was doing. </p><p>Ultimately though, it was Peter who forgot about his own birthday.</p><p>Even though it was coming up, summer had kind of blurred the days together, and the night before his 18th, Peter had had a rough patrol. He crawled through his window with the strength of a baby horse and the energy of a sloth and collapsed into bed, and when he woke up late the next morning, he hazily glanced at his phone to text Harley good morning and respond to a few memes that Ned had texted him at three in the morning. He never even checked the date.</p><p>Breakfast was a simple affair. Happy was in the kitchen making breakfast burritos for brunch when Peter was lured to the kitchen by the smell of eggs and bacon. May was already at work --- she had written it in curly handwriting on the whiteboard in the living room like she usually did --- so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Happy slid Peter a plate soon enough and Peter wolfed it down.</p><p>When Happy offered to take Peter with him to the lake house to visit Tony, Pepper, and Morgan, Peter accepted. During the summer, visits to the lake house were frequent enough that Peter suspected nothing, which said a lot to how stuffed his brain was all the time even during the summer.</p><p>“This is kind of weird, right?” Peter asked, sitting shotgun in Happy’s car as the buildings started to thin, the city remaining behind them.</p><p>Happy flashed him a wry grin. “Kid, you say that every week.”</p><p>Peter cracked a grin in return. “I know, I know. But like, remember when I used to sit in the back and you would always put the partition up?” He sighed happily. “Good times.”</p><p>“Good times,” Happy agreed. “If only I still had that partition.”</p><p>Peter’s mouth dropped open even though they both knew Happy was only joking --- made clear by the amused smirk on Happy’s lips as he maneuvered them outside city limits. Just to mess with him, Peter fiddled with the radio, changing stations to the nearest pop station. Happy’s face fell though the man didn’t utter a word of complaint.</p><p>After a few moments, Peter switched back to the rock station and leaned back in his seat. “You thought.”</p><p>Happy rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say kid.” He glanced at Peter again, who had pulled out his phone. “Who’re you texting?”</p><p>Peter frowned at the screen. “Harley. I asked him when he was planning on coming back to New York for his live-in internship with Tony but he hasn’t answered.”</p><p>Happy made a “hm” sound that immediately caused Peter to squint at him, suspicious. Did Happy know something he didn’t? Had Harley changed his mind about coming to New York? He immediately pressed.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Happy’s eyes flew to his --- too fast. “Nothing.”</p><p>Peter stared at him dubiously but Happy didn’t say anything more. Peter slumped back in his seat, but didn’t fail to notice the looks Happy kept flashing him throughout the rest of the car ride. Shotgun, small talk, weird looks. All new. </p><p>But Peter still couldn’t figure out why.</p><p>Peter froze on the wooden stairs of Tony’s lakehouse, wide eyes swinging to Happy’s, who was instantly on alert. His spider-sense (Peter refused to call it Peter-whatever ever again) was humming at the base of his skull, and he could heartbeats. Lots of them. In Tony’s house. </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Happy asked, grabbing Peter’s shoulder, concerned.</p><p>Peter didn't move, eyes glancing over the frosted glass windows that were too tinted to show glimpses of inside. “There’s a lot of people. Inside.” His heart dropped into his stomach. “You don’t think… is Ross back?”</p><p>Happy straightened as Peter’s body switched to fight or flight. Following the reveal (and subsequent murder accusation) General Ross had harassed both Tony and Peter, trying ot get him “where he belonged” which was --- according to Ross --- on the Raft. He’d even staged a whole plot that had unravelled when Pepper held  a press conference that not only got Spider-Man back in most of the public’s good graces, but also made Peter a part of the Avengers.</p><p>He’d never forget the look on Ross’ face when Pepper had said, voice cold as steel as she stared right at him, “If anyone comes after him, we come after them. All of us.” Peter had thought it was over.</p><p>Had he been wrong?</p><p>Peter bounded up the stairs, ignoring Happy’s call of, “Kid, wait---” and threw open the door, heart strumming in his chest. It was dark and he couldn’t see anybody but before he could blink something exploded in front of him.</p><p>A confetti cannon.</p><p>“SURPRISE!” screamed Tony, Pepper, and all sorts of blurry faces and indistinguishable voices that were filled with joy as the lights came up. </p><p>Peter almost jumped onto the ceiling, eyes frantically swinging around the room until he realized what was going on. The loud birthday banner hung from the ceiling reading, Happy Birthday! was the dead giveaway.</p><p>Peter’s chest swelled in both relief and realization. A surprise party. He’d gotten worked up over a surprise party because, oh yeah, it was his birthday.</p><p>“Happy 18th, kid,” Tony said, swinging an arm over Peter’s shoulders and pulling him close. “Glad you could make it to your party.”</p><p>Peter felt Happy shoulder by, and looked back to see the man grinning widely. He’d apparently executed his part of the plan perfectly.</p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Peter stammered, looking around. “Thanks.”</p><p>Everybody he’d want at his party was here. Peter thought his chest was going to explode.</p><p>There was MJ standing next to Ned, and Pepper was holding Morgan on one hip, both grinning. Morgan even had a birthday hat strapped to her head. Natasha was there, eyeing him coolly and --- dare he say --- proudly. May had apparently not been at work this whole time (the whiteboard was a lie) and was smiling at him so wide and excitedly that she could put any toothpaste model out of business. Happy joined Rhodey and Bruce who were standing next to each other. Rhodey gave Peter a thumbs up.</p><p>“For the birthday boy,” someone next to him spoke --- someone with a distinct Southern accent that sent butterflies on a rampage through Peter’s stomach. Tony stepped away, ruffling Peter’s hair as he did so and sending a few pieces of confetti fluttering to the floor.</p><p>Peter’s chest was definitely exploding. Harley was eyeing him mischievously and holding a red and blue birthday hat that he pushed at Peter. Peter almost crushed it between them in his haste to pull his boyfriend into a hug.</p><p>“You lied to me,” Peter laughed into Harley’s shoulder. “You’re not in Tennessee.”</p><p>Harley cocked his head when they pulled back, eyes sparkling. “I think it was for a good cause.”</p><p>That was undeniable. Harley stepped away without losing his smile as May embraced Peter next.</p><p>“What have our lives become?” May laughed, pecking a kiss onto Peter’s cheek. “Happy birthday, honey.”</p><p>Peter felt May’s sentiment. What had their lives become? It didn’t matter if Peter had seen the superheroes in this room yell at each other over a game of Monopoly or Mario Kart too many times to count. He was still surrounded by superheroes and legends and a billionaire family. He’d come a lot farther from being orphaned one and a half times over that he ever could have dreamed. And he loved every second of it.</p><p>It only took a few minutes for the party to be in full swing. Peter barely left Harley’s side --- he hadn’t seen him since right after his field trip from Hell, and even then Harley had only stayed for a day, long enough for Peter to recover and for Harley to break the news that he would be finishing his last year in high school with at Midtown, with Peter, and that he would be staying with Tony in the meantime.</p><p>The night blurred, but Peter knew he’d remember every moment when the serotonin rush died down. At one point, for a few exhilarating minutes, Captain Marvel dropped by to wish him a happy birthday (“Hey Peter Parker. Happy Birthday. I’d stay for the cake, but I’ve got business, you know?) Peter did in fact know, because he was a superhero himself. Peter couldn’t believe she’d dropped by to even wish him a happy birthday. It was one of the most memorable events, so far.</p><p>The cake also happened to be very, very memorable.</p><p>For one, it was massive.</p><p>When Tony carted it out and set it down on the table, Peter almost choked on a laugh. It was three giant tiers and somehow managed to stay classy while sporting Spider-Man colors and webbing.</p><p>“That’s… wow,” was all Peter managed to say, and Tony grinned proudly.</p><p>“I know, right? I went in and got it myself,” Peter was half-listening, half staring at the cake that was only a foot or two off from touching the ceiling. “You should have seen how surprised the baker was when he saw me. He even made me pull out my ID to prove I was Tony Stark, if you can believe that.”</p><p>“Alright,” Pepper cut in, wielding a big enough cake knife to have Tony step back. “Enough blabbering Mr. Overdo-it.”</p><p>Peter thought he heard Tony mumble, “I buy you one bunny---” but he couldn’t be sure.</p><p>“Happy birthday time,” Pepper said, and Peter was kind of scared to see what the monstrosity of a cake looked like aflame, but he didn’t say anything as Rhodey and Happy made a team to light up the front of the cake. (He was pretty sure that Tony had put more than eighteen candles purely for aesthetic purposes.)</p><p>Peter was on the verge of laughing during the song, partly because of how abysmal the collection of voices were (despite Pepper’s incredible harmony she added) and partly because Harley was making funny faces as he sang at Peter, winking and whatnot. When it ended, Peter’s cheeks hurt from smiling.</p><p>“Birthday boy gets the first slice,” Harley said, nudging Peter forward.</p><p>Pepper handed him a piece of cake on a Spider-Man plate, with a tiny silver cake fork. “Go ahead. Tell us if it looks as good as it looks.”</p><p>Tony made a proud peacock noise that had Peter roll his eyes before shiftily looking around. He didn’t like having a roomful of people watching him expectantly to take a bite of his birthday cake.</p><p>When his gaze came around to Harley’s, Harley raised an eyebrow. “Go before I shove your face into the cake.”</p><p>Peter grinned but stabbed into the moist-looking vanilla cake. Tony shook his head disappointedly. </p><p>“A bigger bite than that,” Tony admonished playfully.</p><p>Peter cut him a look but stabbed out a bigger bite. “Better?”</p><p>“Better!” Ned all but yelled. “Now let’s go.”</p><p>Peter rolled his eyes but ate the cake, eyes widening. It was like, really good. Whatever bakery Tony went to was probably designer. But they had to have messed up with the cake somewhere, because as soon as Peter swallowed the cake, fire seared the back of his throat, like he’d swallowed acid. His vision blurred and he started coughing. A lot. </p><p>“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Tony asked, but his voice sounded like it was coming through a tunnel.</p><p>Peter’s legs shook and he stumbled, gripping the edge of the table to keep himself upright. </p><p>“Tony---” he gasped out, coughing again and watching as red specks of blood marred the inside of his elbow.</p><p>His heart was beating so fast he thought it’d tear. And he couldn’t… he was so disoriented. Someone gripped his elbow, holding him. Peter felt sharp pains tear through his chest. </p><p>He couldn’t see anybody’s faces but he saw a blur of motion. People were yelling, but it was drowned out by the high-pitched ringing in his ears. He needed to sit down. Something was wrong and he couldn’t think.</p><p>“Tony---” he tried to get out, but his throat felt like it’d been cut to ribbons.</p><p>His knees gave out and he stumbled forward. Hands. Hands were on him, easing him onto his back.</p><p>Why was his heart beating so fast? And how come he couldn’t see properly?</p><p>And he felt cold. Cold all over even though just seconds ago, he was burning up. Peter gagged, but nothing came up. Only acidic bile that never made it past his lips. Someone gripped his hands as spots swarmed his vision.</p><p>He was tired, he realized. Maybe if he went to sleep, the pain would go away. Then he would wake up and everything would be okay.</p><p>People were screaming at him. Jostling him. He tried to shake them off but his eyes were closing and he couldn’t keep those open, not to mention find some strength to get his unresponsive limbs to move.</p><p>He blacked out.</p><p>* * *</p><p>It was pure pandemonium the second that Peter collapsed, but Tony lurching forward before that: specifically the second he saw the fear glazed look in Peter’s eyes when he finished coughing blood into his elbow.</p><p>“Tony---” Peter had gasped, and Tony hadn’t made the connection between the blood and the cake and Peter until, it seemed, far too late.</p><p>“Peter,” Tony said, grabbing his elbow. “Peter---”</p><p>“Bruce,” Tony vaguely heard Harley yelling --- everyone was yelling actually, trying to clear a circle or rushing to prepare a room. “Get over here.”</p><p>“Tony,” Peter choked, but Tony could see the haziness of his vision and didn’t think Peter even knew that Tony was beside him, trying to stop the boy from moving away, from dazedly trying to get out of Tony’s desperate grip. </p><p>May was there when Peter stumbled and fell. They worked to lower him onto his back while Pepper ushered Ned, MJ, and Harley back, though Harley looked like he was on the verge of ignoring her orders and rushing into the fray.</p><p>“Stay here,” Pepper demanded at the frantic teens, before pushing Morgan into Natasha’s waiting arms. She whipped around to face Happy, who was on the phone. “Happy, have you gotten in contact with Helen?”</p><p>“Stay awake,” Tony urged when he saw Peter’s eyes start to slip closed. “May, what do we do?”</p><p>He couldn’t think. Couldn’t keep his heart in line. Couldn’t breathe. May shot him a worried look. “Rhodey’s setting up one of your labs for him. We’ll move him as soon as we can and hopefully figure out what kind of poison this is.”</p><p>Time seemed to still. Tony’s hands froze from where they were hovering over Peter’s chest. Poison. Tony had known it, but nobody had yet breathed it until existence until then. He swallowed, looked back down as Peter’s unmoving but conscious form. That’s when he noticed the way that Peter’s veins looked. </p><p>They were black, so dark against his pale skin that they looked like they’d been drawn on with black markers.</p><p>“I’ve never seen this before,” Bruce admitted. “But we need to---”</p><p>He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.</p><p>Peter’s eyes rolled up in his head and his body started to jerk. Tony immediately lifted his hands, heart swelling with potent fear. He locked eyes with Pepper, who looked terrified. Behind her, Ned was crying, arms wrapped around MJ, who was frozen. Harley stumbled backwards, horror written all over his face, until his back hit the wall. Then he watched, frozen, as the seizure dragged on. Tony couldn’t find Morgan, or Natasha. They must have left the room.</p><p>Tony pressed the heel of his hand against his chest, struggling to pull air through his lips. Someone must have noticed, because there were hands on Tony’s shoulders. Happy was trying to get him on his feet.</p><p>“Give them space, Tony, and take a deep breath,” Happy urged. “You’re not helping.”</p><p>Tony wanted to argue, but he didn’t want to do anything that might compromise Peter’s health so he backed up. Staggered away, hands shaking. His foot knocked into Peter’s fallen plate of cake and he froze.</p><p>The damn cake. He’d ordered it: personally. The puzzle pieces clicked into place. Why the man working the register had seemed so nervous. Why he’d demanded Tony’s ID. He’d taken time to enact some kind of revenge; why else would there be poison in the cake? Which meant that this was all Tony’s fault.</p><p>And if Peter died because of Tony… Tony didn’t know if he could live with that.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Tony’s paranoia was often misplaced, or at the very least, irrational. But without it, the three labs of his that existed beneath the lakehouse would not be stocked with hospital grade medical equipment. Not as much as the old medbay had had in the Compound, but enough to allow Bruce and May to stabilize Peter pending Helen’s arrival.</p><p>Tony didn’t want to go in and see Peter as much as he needed to know what was going on. In the end, his desperation won out, and he shouldered through the crowd in front of the stairs and entered.</p><p>“Bruce, tell me what’s going on,” was the first thing Tony said, and Bruce looked up from where he was studying a screen while May worked on setting up an IV for Peter, who was unconscious on a gurney pushed against the wall. “Is he stable?”</p><p>“For now,” Bruce said. “But the poison isn’t being metabolized as fast as we’d hoped.”</p><p>Tony cast another glance at Peter, at the heart monitor showcasing his irregular heartbeat, and averted his eyes again. “How long does he have before…”</p><p>Bruce wrung his hands, looking back at the screen. “With May’s help, I can do what I can to keep his symptoms at bay, but I’m out of my realm here, Tony. If we want Peter to survive this, we need Helen.”</p><p>Tony swallowed, trying not to let his heart give out on the spot. “What about an antidote?”</p><p>Bruce turned back to his screen, face grim. “I’m on it, but it doesn’t always work like that. Hopefully I can---”</p><p>Tony didn’t get to hear what Bruce would hopefully do, because May let out a frightened cry and when Tony spun around, Peter was entering another seizure. Bruce flew across the room, yelling words that turned into mush the second they passed through Tony’s eardrums.</p><p>I did this, was all that Tony could think. If he dies, that’s on me.</p><p>Hands were on his shoulders, and Tony should have been surprised that Rhodey was there, but Rhodey was always there when it mattered, when Tony started to spiral, so it made sense.</p><p>“Get out of here, Tones,” Rhodey urged, dragging him towards the door. “You’re not helping here.”</p><p>Tony stopped, dragging in ragged breaths that made his chest hurt and fixing Rhodey with desperate eyes. “I have--- I have to do something, I can’t---”</p><p>Rhodey’s features turned down. “You want something to do? Go deal with the others. They don’t know what’s going on.”</p><p>Tony reached some sort of clarity, and he nodded. Rhodey seemed relieved --- probably that Tony wasn’t clogging the already tense situation with his perpetual worries. When Tony left the makeshift medbay, he mentally alloted thirty seconds to ground himself. Then, he went upstairs to deal with the collateral damage of the worst party he’d ever thrown.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Harley was on him first, eyes red-rimmed and desperation carved into his face. “Tell me he’s okay.”</p><p>Tony nodded, but it felt like he was lying. How could he sit there and tell them Peter was okay when he didn’t even know if Peter would survive this?</p><p>No. Peter would live. He had to.</p><p>“They’re doing everything they can,” Tony answered, voice gravelly. “And Helen will be here soon.”</p><p>He didn’t mention that if she wasn’t, Peter wouldn’t last longer than an hour at most. Because he couldn’t think of that.</p><p>“Daddy!” came Morgan’s cry, and when the young girl bounded towards him, tears streaking her face, Tony pulled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. “Where’s Peter?”</p><p>“Peter’s downstairs,” Tony breathed. “But you don’t need to worry about that.” He looked up, running his eyes over the guests that had stayed --- so everybody. “None of you do. Peter’s strong --- he’ll fight this.”</p><p>Tony made himself believe it. When it came to this, to Peter… he had no other choice.</p><p>* * *</p><p>The jet landed in front of the lake, and the relief and hope that surged through the house when Helen Cho spilled out along with six members of her hand-picked medical team was palpable. She was pure business the second she walked inside.</p><p>Tony figured that if she asked for his arm (flesh or prosthetic) in payment for her services, he’d give it to her. She wasn’t just a genius geneticist. She was a miracle worker, and Peter’s last hope. When this was over, maybe he’d find a new doctor, just to give her break. It seemed she never got one when it came to Peter.</p><p>“Where is he?” she demanded, when Tony met her on the porch, holding the door open.</p><p>“Natasha will take you to him,” Tony answered, and Helen swept inside with Natasha without a second glance. Her medical team followed stoically in a line, with matching white scrubs and in perfect sync, like soldiers.</p><p>Tony watched her go downstairs, and resisted the urge to follow. He couldn’t keep harassing the medical team, he knew that. But it was hard not to take advantage of the time he could be spending with Peter before the kid would undoubtedly never want to see Tony again. Even if he did, Tony might have to be the one to keep himself away. He couldn’t keep watching Peter die because of him. He swallowed hard. The bitterness and guilt went down his throat like shattered glass.</p><p>“Tony, snap out of it.” Pepper guided him onto the couch, and Morgan crawled into his lap, holding him tight. “This isn’t your fault. Once Peter… Once he wakes up, you’ll see that.”</p><p>Across the room, Harley glowered at the floor. Peter’s friends wouldn’t even look at him.</p><p>Maybe they blamed Tony, too.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Ultimately, it was May who delivered the news. She sprinted to the top of the stairs and stopped at the top like Natasha, though she clutched the doorway so tight her knuckles bleached of color. Tony set down his untouched mini-sandwich, taken from the tray he’d prepared while they waited, which nobody had managed to stomach until Tony threatened to send them home if they didn’t eat.</p><p>Harley was the only exception. Tony had barely gotten the threat out of his mouth when Harley’s eyes flashed. “Try me. I’m not doing anything until Peter’s okay.”</p><p>So Tony let him be. Now, the Tennessean was clenching his fists to brace himself as May got herself together.</p><p>Her eyes were teary, red-rimmed. Her face was pink.</p><p>But her voice was anything but sad when she said, “Bruce and Helen did it. He’s going to be fine.”</p><p>Tony could have cried, but he held it together. He’d already spent the evening falling apart. He couldn’t keep losing it. </p><p>Instead, he followed her downstairs, not bothering to tell Harley off for falling in line behind him. He’d doubted he’d be able to keep Harley away without a very strong sedative. Natasha retreated, but the severe look on her face told them exactly what she was about to do. Tony wished he could join her in ruining the life or lives of whoever had done this, but he had a kid to attend to. Happy stayed behind with Morgan, but Pepper was with Ned and MJ as they joined Tony, May, and Harley in their descent to the lab, which was big enough to accomodate all of them and the doctors, now that the brunt of the work was over with.</p><p>Tony hung back when they entered the makeshift medbay, eyes running over all of the new equipment Helen and her team had set up. He determinedly did not look Peter’s way, instead shuffling over to Helen to get information.</p><p>While her team looked slightly exhausted as they fluttered around the room, checking screens, monitoring equipment, or de-scrubbing, the only sign that Helen had just worked her ass off to save Peter’s life was the slight shininess on her face. She looked Tony up and down like she didn’t know whether to feel bad for him or lecture him about disrupting her long overdue vacation.</p><p>“I’m giving you the name and number of my apprentice,” was the first thing Helen said. “I’m always on call if you need me, especially for times like these and especially for Peter, but this is getting out of hand.”</p><p>She was joking, as she often did even when Tony ended up flying her back out to the Compound or the lakehouse but Tony still felt guilt squeeze his heart tighter. Helen’s face dropped back into her typical seriousness.</p><p>“Tony, I’m kidding,” she said, sounding concerned. “Peter’s going to be alright, that’s all you need to know for right now.”</p><p>Tony shook his head. “No, no, I--- I need to know what happened. What they did.”</p><p>Helen pursed her lips, but she didn’t deny him the information. “The poison in the cake was not meant for Peter, but you probably figured that out.” </p><p>Tony nodded; he had. He’d kept Peter out of the media as much as he could since even before the field trip to Europe, and the public had no idea that Tony was still in contact with the young intern he’d had before the Snap. If they managed to remember that that same intern was also Spider-Man, an Avenger, they had no idea just how deep their father-son relationship went. But Tony couldn’t let himself believe that nobody had noticed how much Peter meant to Tony. Even so, that’s not how he knew the cake was meant for him.</p><p>Tony had ordered the cake in his name, seemingly for himself, and someone had taken their chance to hurt him. They might not have succeeded in poisoning him, but they had caused a far worse injury.</p><p>“Had anyone else consumed a fraction of what Peter did, they would have died,” Helen continued, and that made a spark of fear shoot down Tony’s spine. “It was touch and go, for a while, but his enhancements pulled him through it.”</p><p>How many times had he shooed Morgan away from swiping a finger through the frosting, or insisting that nobody even try a bite before Peter? Anything could have happened had he not been so nitpicky about making this birthday the best Peter had seen.</p><p>And still, look where he was standing.</p><p>“What was it?” Tony managed to ask, and Helen’s face darkened.</p><p>Like most everybody in the room, she’d developed a soft spot for Peter too. It was damn near impossible not to.</p><p>“For starters, it wasn’t just one poison. It was a cocktail,” Helen replied, shooting a look at Peter, who was alright but hadn’t quite regained consciousness. “A combination of cyanide and things I’ve never even seen before that we managed to isolate and cure before it caused total organ failure.” She sighed. “Whoever did this wanted to get the job done, and they weren’t taking any chances. Had you been the one to consume that? It would have ensured your death, Tony. In minutes.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>Tony knew that Peter was asking for him, but in the few hours that had passed since he’d woken, Tony couldn’t stomach seeing him. The poison may have been neutralized, but it had only taken one glance at the blackened veins still visible against Peter’s unnaturally pale complexion to convince Tony that he needed more time. Needed to distance himself before he lost the nerve to stay away. The poison may have been neutralized but Peter still looked like death warmed over.</p><p>And Tony couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all his fault.</p><p>But even guilt couldn’t keep him away when it quieted, and the night shifted to the earliest hours of the morning. When Tony crept into the medbay, carefully stepping over the sleeping bags scattered on the floor and occupied by Peter’s friends, he saw that Peter was asleep. The medbay was quiet, empty of life except for those closest to Peter. A lower sublevel had been converted into a place of rest for Helen and her team in the unlikely chance that the poison had some lingering effects. Peter was on the mend, but he wasn’t technically in the clear until it was all out of his blood.</p><p>Tony hovered, not sure why he’d come down here except to look and convince himself that Peter was alive. He was breathing, and asleep, stuffed between the railing of the gurney and his boyfriend that had squeezed himself onto the bed, but he was healthy.</p><p>Tony almost had a heart attack when Peter’s eyes snapped open, locking on Tony in an instant, clear, like he’d never been sleeping.</p><p>“Mr. Stark,” Peter croaked, and God, Tony already felt the urge to retreat, but he couldn’t make his legs go. “You came.”</p><p>Peter was sitting up, letting Harley’s head fall against his lap, though the other boy remained sound asleep. Tony felt his chest clench.</p><p>“Of course I did,” Tony managed to say, shifting his weight from foot to foot, unsure. </p><p>Peter swallowed, looking gaunt in the pale background lighting of the lab. “But you weren’t… I mean I didn’t think you were going to.”</p><p>“Should you even be talking? Or awake, for that matter?”</p><p>Peter shrugged. “Helen never said I couldn’t.” When Tony leveled him with a doubtful look, Peter backtracked. “Okay, so maybe she did. Not like you would know, since you weren’t down here.”</p><p>Regret instantly seared through both of them, and Peter tried to stand up. Tony moved forward and forced him back down.</p><p>“I deserved that,” Tony said, at the same time Peter blurted, loudly, “I’m sorry---”</p><p>“The others are sleeping,” Tony pointed out quietly, and Peter calmed, glancing at May and Happy, who were camped out on a pile of blankets on the floor to the left side of Peter’s bed. “Stay quiet, and don’t overdo it. You were just…”</p><p>Tony trailed off, unsure how to finish. Peter was just what? Just poisoned? Just unconscious? Just on the verge of death? Peter seemed to sense that Tony was still not over watching Peter collapse. </p><p>Total organ failure, Helen had said.</p><p>Not something you can patch up so easily.</p><p>“I’m okay,” Peter whispered, reaching out and gripping Tony’s hand. “I’m right here.” Tony inched forward, gingerly sitting down at the bottom of Peter’s bed. He didn’t release Peter’s hand.</p><p>“I thought I was going to lose you,” Tony croaked, quiet, so as not to wake Harley, May, or the others camped around Tony’s bed. He swallowed hard. “And you know what the icing on the cake was?”</p><p>He didn’t realize his poor choice of words until Peter’s lips quirked up into a weak grin.</p><p>“Poison,” Peter said without missing a beat, and Tony’s eyebrows shot up in confusion.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Peter tried not to laugh. “Poison. Get it? ‘Cause Helen told me that the frosting was poisoned? So the icing on the cake was… poison.”</p><p>Tony was unamused. Actually, he thought he might have a heart attack on the spot. Luckily, Peter seemed to sense that his joke was three decades premature because he leaned back against his pillows, and the mirth dropped from his face.</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>Tony opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words. Harley stirred on the bed, and Tony looked down as the other boy muttered, “That was a terrible joke, hon.”</p><p>Peter’s eyes revealed the smile that his lips didn’t dare betray. “I don’t know, Harls. I thought that one… really took the cake.” His eyebrows furrowed, and Tony glowered. “Yeah, that one wasn’t really good.”</p><p>“None of this is good,” Tony fretted, gripping Peter’s hand tighter and shifting so that Harley could get comfortable, half wrapped around Peter’s waist and legs. “Especially not your tasteless jokes.”</p><p>Peter busted into quiet, hoarse laughter, and Harley couldn’t fight the snicker that escaped him when Peter said, “Tasteless, huh?”</p><p>Tony shook his head, but the heaviness, the tightness that had haunted him all evening, was gone. Pepper had been right all along, as she usually was. Tony was an idiot for thinking he could ever leave Peter’s side --- not now or ever. Especially not if Peter had anything to say about it.</p><p>“Alright, go to sleep,” Tony ordered, feeling tired himself. “Harley will tell me if you try to stay up, right Keener?”</p><p>“Yessir,” Harley said into Peter’s side, voice muffled and also heavy from drowsiness. “Now shut up and be my pillow.”</p><p>“Yessir,” Peter whispered back, the hint of a smile on his lips, even as he watched Tony stand. </p><p>“I’ll see you in the morning kid,” Tony said. “Lord knows my back can’t handle sleeping on the floor like the rest of you young’uns.”</p><p>“I can’t believe you just said that.”</p><p>“I did it because I knew you’d hate it.”</p><p>“Of course you did.” Peter went silent, looking unsure. “You know, I only stayed up because I wanted to talk to you.”</p><p>Tony nodded. “I know, kid.”</p><p>Peter cocked his head. “You know, technically, I’m not a kid, anymore.”</p><p>Tony shook his head with a smile that said that Peter knew nothing. “You’re still a kid to me, Pete. You’ll always be my kid.”</p><p>Peter smiled, voice a breath above a whisper when he said, “I know.”</p>
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